On August 25, Olivier Barberot, Senior Executive Vice-President of Human Resources, met representatives of the company’s six French trade unions to discuss psycho-social risks within the company in France.

The joint review of the circumstances of individual tragedies that occurred during the summer shows that the close involvement and support provided by the local managers of the employees who took their own lives unfortunately did not result in avoiding a tragic outcome. Olivier Barberot expressed the deeply felt emotion prompted by these sad events, which the whole company feels.

The management, which is fully aware of the need to reinforce measures aimed at reducing psycho-social risks, has made the following four commitments:

-    Rapidly launch negotiations within the Group to roll-out the measures of the French inter-professional agreement on stress,
-    Reinforce occupational health teams and improve supervision of the social workers' team,
-    Strengthen local Human Resources teams
-    Reassert the possibility to initiate negotiations locally in order to define specific support measures to accompany planned organizational changes.

In view of the need for the company to pursue its transformation in a rapidly changing environment both in terms of its professions and its customers’ expectations, and given the tough competitive environment, Olivier Barberot has undertaken to improve internal communication, dialogue and training concerning all these subjects.

A meeting with staff representatives on all these subjects during the meeting of the Comité National d’Hygiène et de Sécurité et des Conditions de Travail (National Health & Safety and Working Conditions Committee) is planned for September 10, 2009.